Digital Marketing – The Phenomenon Unlikely to Slow Down Anytime Soon
Yes, let’s get the elephant out of the room, right at the beginning of this blog. There are a few things in this world that will not stop as long as mankind exists from here on. Things like food innovations, or basically great food, newspapers, excellent online portals, sports are right on the top of the list. There is something in particular not mentioned above that intrigues us more than anything else though and that is digital media. Yes, that’s right another one of those on the list that life seems incomplete without nowadays is digital marketing.
One of the reasons among many as to why this will happen, is you, the reader, the audience and the eventual customer. Sure, word of mouth, traditional marketing are reasons why you buy stuff, but you have to admit that now, most of your buying habits are influenced by digital marketing.
The vast amount of digital media that an average person consumes on a daily basis is what has gotten this phenomenon where it is at the moment. It has reached such heights that it has now become an integral and intangible part of your life.
So, why exactly has digital media and digital marketing reached this stance in our lives? The answer you are looking for is that it brings a whole lot of advantages, both for the audience and also for the brand or company. Let’s discuss what advantages of digital marketing possesses then.
It Is The Most Powerful Tool Of Digital Marketing At The Moment
Digital marketing has the potential to transform the way that you reach and engage your customers. But you don’t have to take our word for it. Here are some real examples of how digital marketing tactics are helping businesses just like yours reach their target market and influence conversions.
With the right strategies and effective implementation, small businesses can increase their reach and conversions in just a matter of months. A lot of the businesses, small or large, have managed to gain growth and make profits because of strategic digital marketing and making sure all their promotions reach the right audience.
Low On Cost And High Returns On Investment
First things first, low on cost does not mean all the brand strategies are or will be low on cost. It depends on the agencies or the brands budget, but it is low on cost compared to traditional marketing. Marketing and advertising cost is one of the biggest financial burdens that businesses have to bear.
While big businesses may not have so much trouble doling out millions for marketing and advertising, for small businesses, this may be impossible or an unbearable nightmare. Marketing via digital platforms offers a more affordable alternative to the traditional method.
They create as much impact yet costing way less. With just a few bucks you can subscribe to an email marketing provider and send transactional or direct emails to thousands of customers on your mailing list.
Nothing matters more to a business than the return on the investment it makes. Digital marketing offers a substantial return on small investments. Email marketing or running advertising campaigns on social media platforms cost little when compared to traditional marketing techniques.
Measuring The Results Of Digital Marketing Is Really Easy
The only way to know for sure is to measure your success over time. While it can be difficult to track the success of a traditional marketing campaign like a radio advertisement or mailer, every digital marketing tactic that you use is measurable. This benefit is every reason why you need to invest into digital marketing.
Digital marketing analytics takes the guesswork out of determining whether your marketing is actually working. By measuring your digital marketing campaigns in real-time, you can see which tactics are working and which are not. Then, you can adjust your campaigns for greater success. You can also take the insights that you’ve gained from the process to improve future campaigns.
The success or otherwise of a digital campaign can easily be ascertained. Compared to traditional methods where you have to wait weeks or months to evaluate the veracity of a campaign, with a digital campaign you can know almost immediately how an ad is performing.
Google Analytics is a very effective tool for measuring specific goals to be achieved on a website or blog. Google AdWords manager allows users to monitor the performance of their ads on Google search; they can know how many people viewed their ads and learn all about their conversion rates.
It Allows Precise Targeting
The main purpose of marketing is that it helps your brand reach its exact audience and customers based on various points like type of product, age group and so on. The traditional means of marketing uses the spray and pray method, where an ad runs over a platform with substantial reach with the hope that a few people who love what they see, hear, or read would make a positive approach.
Marketing over digital platforms, on the other hand, allows for targeted campaigning where ads are presented to customers based on their preferences or initial action. Social media platforms usually possess a very smart algorithm that studies and collates user preferences. Such that specific ad campaigns are shown only to users with a specific inkling.
Attracts A Global Audience And Is Easy To Share
When your audience is scattered and yet, your marketing strategy helps you reach them, you are doing something right. The world, they say, has turned into a global village. This has been made possible via digitization. Digital marketing allows ad campaigns to be visible in any part of the world.
This gives small start-ups the rare opportunity to go global via the immense exposure provided. The internet abounds with stories of start-ups that became hugely successful over a small period due to the opportunities created thanks to the global nature of marketing via digital platforms.
Most digital marketing channels feature sharing capabilities which allow campaigns and articles to be shared with multiple followers. This helps to create a multiplier effect and has the capacity to tremendously improve sales results.
All these advantages however, do not come with any campaign execution. There is a lot of thinking and investment (at the right time and place) needed to be done to make use of these advantages. You can make the most of these advantages if you create the right strategy, whether for your own brand or as an agency working for one.
The term “strategy” might seem intimidating, but building an effective digital strategy doesn’t need to be difficult. In simple terms, a strategy is just a plan of action to achieve a desired goal, or multiple goals.
For example, your overarching goal might be to generate 25% more leads via your website this year than you drove last year. So what do you have to do in order to get these increases in numbers and outputs? Create a digital campaign after keeping certain points in mind. What kind of points? Read on!
Know Your End Goal Prior To Execution
What do you want your digital marketing campaigns to accomplish? Do you want to build name brand recognition? Generate leads? Get more sales, or email subscribers? Great! Whatever it is that you want, though, you need to name it. For instance, take online/blind dating.
If you go on a bunch of blind dates with no idea what you’re looking for, you might settle down with the first person who you can tolerate. If you have an actual list of traits you want in a person, you’re much more likely to find your match. Your goals matter, and you’ll need to take specific steps to accomplish each one.
Always Create Buyer Personas, Makes Your Work Easier
The next step you’ll need to take in order to create your strategy is to get a solid understanding of who your audience is and what motivates them. This will be essential, because it will help you to assess which marketing platforms you can find them on, how they’re interacting with it and what they want to see from you.
You’ve got a good understanding of who your audience is, so now you’ll want to understand how and where to connect with them. Again, refer to your analytics on this and cross-reference them with your buyer personas.
Keep looking for shortcomings in your campaign, it helps you improve until perfect: Your digital marketing strategy is up and running. Both in the early days and on a long-term basis, you’ll want to carefully evaluate how your strategy is working.
Since there’s often multiple elements, platforms, and campaigns involved, this can be tricky. Google Analytics is a big help here, along with the native analytics of the networks and channels you’re utilizing. You want to evaluate how customers and leads are interacting with your campaigns, and how that’s translating into helping you reach your goals.
There are many steps that you can add to this list, what we want to convey is that always ensure you follow a good procedure while trying to execute a campaign. It will reduce your costs, ensure less haphazardness in your work and make you more productive.